The story revolves around the Coyote who is so overwhelmed
by starvation, he kills, skins, and attempts to eat his own daughter. His
daughter’s ghost emerges and informs her mother that her killer is her father.
The mother, then, avenges her daughter by burning their house and kills her
husband, the Coyote. (This is a summary).
It amuses me that this story, Coyote Cooks His Daughter, is
opposite to what we generally know about protagonists and antagonists. We are
used to accepting that the protagonists are always the good guys. Although the
Coyote was the protagonist here, he is also the bad guy! In the Indian
Beginnings: Introduction we understand that, “Indians and non-Indians have long
enjoyed Coyote as he luxuriates in his appetites and gleefully destroys taboos
(Hicks et al., 19). That being said, the writer of the story wants us to know
that Coyote continues to prove to us that he is a self-absorbed, power-hungry,
and a bigot. The writer also wants us to understand that Coyote is not a figure
to be admired and/or adored. Coyote is the character that everyone should be
afraid of becoming.
The themes of the story are gluttony and love. Gluttony is
one of the seven deadly sins and Coyote showed us that he had committed the
most forbidden act of gluttony which is eating your own kind -- flesh and
blood. On the other hand, it teaches us of love, specifically, a mother’s love
for her child. Although this love resulted to a morbid decision that was based
on the principle: an eye for an eye, the story still tells us that maternal
love is paramount to romantic love. In this theme, we realize that even during
the early Indian life, matriarchy is regarded, and should still be regarded as
the highest power in a family setting and perhaps the society.
Work Cited:
Hicks, Jack et al.
“Indian Beginnings: Introduction.” The Literature of California, vol. 1,
University of California Press, 2000, p. 19.
Hicks, Jack et al.
“Coyote Cooks His Daughter.” The Literature of California, vol. 1,
University of California Press, 2000, pp. 52–55.
Hello Regina! First of all before I start commenting on your blog post, I just want to say that your background picture is really cool! I actually never got the time to read this story since I had other home works to take care of so your summary of the story was actually very helpful to me. Have you noticed that in majority of the reading having to do with Indians there is almost always somebody or something named as the "Coyote"? I found it very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHello again, Regina!
ReplyDeleteI love your analysis! When I was deciding which story I would analyze, I thought about this one. I read it but I couldn't understand. I felt like it was just a story to scare children who don't behave well.
However, your explanation opened up my eyes in a different. I loved the part when you make a parallel between Coyote and the seven deadly sins. I'm going to read this story again, but now with a new perspective
Hi Regina, what an interesting analysis! I didn't even think of gluttony, for example. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!
ReplyDeleteHi Regina, your analysis was very interesting and allowed me to learn a little more in depth about the story since I did not do my analysis on this one. You did a great job with taking a metaphor from the story, and breaking it down into a real meaning. The meaning of coyote can be confusing to people with this story, but you did a good job letting us know what it really means. I have realized that most of our readings have been out Indians, I wonder if that will continue?
ReplyDeleteHello Regina,
ReplyDeleteYour analysis was really good. When I first read the story, I took it literally because I found that coyote's can be a person from the tribe; however, after reading it again, it really did symbolize the animal (or it didn't, I still question it). But your analysis was a good read, the adding in of the deadly sins was a unique thing to read. Wouldn't have thought of it. Good job!
Hello Regina! I really liked how you picked this story to analyze. When I read this story, I found it quite humorous because he couldn't catch anything so he cooked his daughter. Reading this story in the mindset of the animal actually makes a lot more sense on why he would cook his daughter. Great job!
ReplyDelete